READ Complete report: 2023 YEAR IN REVIEW
Note: as proposed in the following PDF, this idea as outlined is in violation of Idaho Law because it involves paying for services on public lands which is illegal’s unless you are a licensed “Outfitter & Guide” which BCHI is not. It would also likely provoke a civil suite from the Outfitters & Guides Association.
Proposal to create income and new memberships to grow the BCHI organization
Sunday January 7, 2024 @ 15:00 (3 PM)
Join the team helping to pick next years calendar pictures lead by Marjaliisa & Dan Waugh
Topic: IHC Trails BCHI Calendar Meeting
Time: Jan 7, 2024 03:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
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Sweet, Idaho/Price, Utah – Leon E. Berggren, 80, passed away on Christmas Day 2023 in Boise, Idaho. Dad is finally free! Leon was born on February 8, 1943, to Alta Marie and Carl S. Berggren of Imperial Nebraska, he was the second child of three children.
Leon moved around a lot with his family before graduating from Socorro High School. There, he met the love of his life Margaret Scott. They were married on February 2, 1964. Leon went on to New Mexico State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Wild Life Management.
In 1966, Leon and Margaret welcomed a son Scotty, and in 1970, they welcomed another son, Eric. Leon enjoyed spending time with his sons, hunting, fishing, camping, boating, running rivers, and bucking hay, just
to name a few. He was an avid outdoors man.
Leon’s job took him to many states, working in New Mexico, California, Utah, and retiring in Idaho in 1999. Leon loved retirement having cattle of his own in Sweet, Idaho. Leon enjoyed working his cattle with Margaret by his side. There, he had many happy memories with his children and grandchildren, who he loved with his whole heart.
Leon will always be remembered as a BLM man, firefighter, husband, dad, grandpa, papa, and great grandpa. Leon will be dearly missed by his family and many friends.
He is survived by his wife Margaret, son Scott, and wife Stacy, son Eric, and wife Ralynn. Five grandchildren, Carl Russell, Brian (Aspyn) Berggren, Tiffanie Perkins, Cassie (Brady) Moore and Taylor Berggren. Four great grandchildren, Jackson, Gentry, Leah, and Carl Judson. Other surviving relatives include sister Anita Little, and husband Jack, nieces Arlene and Janice along with their families, cousin Walt, and many more cousins. Preceeded in death by his parents Carl S. and Alta Berggren, brother Carl Thomas, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Per Leon’s wishes, cremation has taken place by Bowman Funeral Parlor, Garden city. A memorial service/celebration of life will take place at a later date this spring in Sweet, Idaho, with an interment at the Sweet Idaho Cemetery.
Leon & Margaret Berggren
PO 126
Sweet, ID 83670
Margaret, Lorraine & Chick at Wilson Creek
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Click to Read
2023 Summer-Broomtales
Dan and Marja are Backcountry Horseman of Idaho volunteers who pack gear and supplies for ITA projects as well as other groups doing trail work in the Wilderness. We applaud their enthusiasm for protecting and maintaining Idaho’s trails and volunteering for seven pack trips across Idaho in 2023 alone! For our backcountry projects, their packing services are key to reaching remote places and getting the work done. Projects are always more fun when greeted by Dan and Marja’s smiles, treats at the trailhead, and getting to take selfies with their burro, Pedro!
“Our lands and trails in Idaho, especially non-motorized trails are quickly fading away at an alarming rate. Groups and even state and federal land managers can’t keep pace with maintaining our trails. We have to change our mindset and work with those managers to find unique and new ways to manage resources and improve our trails.”- Dan Waugh
Read their full Volunteer Spotlight here!
ITA named finalist in national contest!
As our 2023 trail season is slowly winding down, we are full of thanks for our volunteers, members, and supporters who have made this season an awesome one for trails and public lands! We still have a few projects left as well as some great events coming up:
- ITA has been named as one of five nonprofit finalists in the Land Rover Defender Service Awards and has the chance to win a customized Land Rover and $25,000! But we need your help to win. See below for more details.
ITA has been named as one of five nonprofit finalists in the Land Rover Defender Service Awards and has the chance to win a customized Land Rover and $25,000! A large four wheel drive like this would be instrumental in allowing more volunteers (especially youth) to participate in projects requiring a high-clearance vehicle. Transportation to remote trailheads on rough roads has become a challenge as ITA grows and volunteers don’t always have their own four-wheel drive vehicle. Our goal is to make it possible for anyone to be part of a project, no matter how rough the road to the trailhead! The contest winner will be determined by public vote starting this Friday, September 15 and going through October 4 and we need your help to win. You can vote once per day and we need as many people as possible voting every single day! You can opt into this email reminder by clicking the button below or replying “opt in” to this email. Thank you for helping us win this awesome contest.
The Squaw Butte Chapter of Back Country Horseman of Idaho spend a lot of summer weekends doing trail or trailhead work in the mountains, or providing pack support for other volunteer trail crews. In July some members provided the pack support to a trail crew out of the Moscow/Pullman area spending a week cutting trees on trails in the Frank Chuck Wilderness.
Dan Waugh, of the Squaw Butte Chapter was the lead packer for the group and provided the following account of the trip back out of the Wilderness.
“Picked up the Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation trail crew. They did an amazing job clearing over 5 miles and cutting more than 550 trees with a crosscut saw. If you haven’t ran one then you wouldn’t understand the task of this. But 3 crosscut teams can get to work!
The morning of the pack out was cool and wet and came early. Thank goodness for good hot coffee. We had the seven pack animals and two riding horses saddled and ready to go in about an hour. The ride in was great and without issue. The trail was wet so zero dust which is always a blessing. However, the bogs were deeper and sloppier than last week.
Submitted by Lisa Griffith
READ FULL REPORT: Report out on the Tin Cup project
Marjaliisa Waugh and her string of Welch ponies & mules
Jun – SBFC Pack Support – Sulphur Creek
Jul – ITA Pack Support – Little Queens
Jul – ITA Seven Devils Pack Support
Jul – PUG East Mayfield Creek Pack Support
READ NEWSLETTER: BCHAwinter2023
Registration and Information (PDF)
PAST CONVENTIONS 2022 2019 2018
2023 STATE CONVENTION – MARCH 17-18, 2023 Hosted by
Salmon River Back Country Horsemen
at the Elks Lodge, 901 Lombard Street, Salmon, ID 83467
45 Years of Tales from the Trails
$85 per person by 2/15/23 (non-refundable)
$100 per person after 2/15/23 deadline (non-refundable)
To help with planning, it would be appreciated if registrations are sent prior to the deadline.
The registration fee covers Friday and Saturday’s lunches and refreshments, Saturday’s presentations and entertainment, and Saturday’s prime rib dinner.
Make checks payable to SRBCH
Send registration form and check to:
Celeste Bingham, SRBCH Treasurer, PO Box 82, Carmen, ID 83462
Meals included: Lunch on Friday & Saturday. Prime rib dinner on Saturday night. No breakfast at the convention.
PHOTO CONTEST
• Register your photo Friday evening or Saturday morning by 9:00 am at the Registration Desk.
• The photo contest consists of the following categories:
•Animals in the Backcountry — wildlife, horses, mules, bugs, etc.
•Backcountry Horsemen Activities
• Backcountry Scenic Views – wildflowers, seasons, river, water, bridges
•Outhouses
• Photos are to be taken by BCH amateur photographers
• Pictures that have won a prize previously are not eligible
• Attach your name, address, club name, and category to the back of the photo. No frames, please.
TALES FROM THE TRAIL
Each chapter is asked to share a three (3) minute fun story from the trail.
LOCAL LODGING (mention Backcountry Horsemen for special pricing)
Stagecoach Inn 201 Riverfront Drive 208-744-3566 Super 8 104 Courthouse Drive 208-756-8880
More Information on E-Bikes
To view a 2.5-minute YouTube video that includes eMTBs
and the various e-bike classes, click here.
For more information on current e-bike policies of the federal
land management agencies, see BCHA’s Winter 2021 newsletter.
BCHA will present a webinar regarding e-bike use on non-motorized trails on October 22nd at 10am Mountain Time.
The webinar will include information about:
- How electric motorized bicycles (e-bikes) represent a potential safety hazard to equestrians on trails, and
- How your chapter might prepare to respond to proposals by public land management agencies to add e-bike use on non-motorized trails.
We’ll offer hints on how to identify an e-bike in the field (hint: it’s not easy) and provide examples from BCHA’s success to date to challenge poorly conceived e-bike proposals on two national forests in the Southwestern U.S. Proposals to add e-bike use on non-motorized trails are accelerating across the country. BCHA chapters must be prepared to engage in constructive dialogue with agencies and other trail partners in order to defend trails important to horsemen.
The webinar is sponsored by BCHA’s Education Committee and Public Lands Committee.
Register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Hello All,
I have been trying to get this update out to our state members since I came back from the BCHA Convention with no luck. So I have grabbed the contact emails off our BCHI website for each chapter and would appreciate each of you forwarding the below information to your chapters. Also if the email I am using is no longer valid can you please update me on the current email as I have more information to forward to our state members.
The meeting in Kansas City, MO in April was excellent for networking, information gathering, getting things accomplished and getting to know some folks from all over the country. This is my third national convention but the first in person convention, WOW what a difference.
The following is what I deem the most important but I will send other bits of news from time to time.
1) The volunteer hours report went thru some heavy discussion for a couple of days. In the end the decision was made to let each state do the type of report they want to do or the type they have been doing. There will be two types of forms on the BCHA website, we can use whichever one works for our state or the one you are using now. Each state tracks a little different subjects depending on what their state/federal agencies request/require. And the state information to these agencies is really the most important for this whole process. What happens with the BCHA collected data is very simple, Randy Rasmussen, paid Public Lands liaison, only needs the final big number of dollars. He said the folks he talks to do not deal in the details, just the big picture and that very large number works perfectly for him. BCHA gathers the final number from the state reports easily and then gives Randy the few overall figures needed.
2) The new officiers are:
Chairmen – Sherry Copeland
Vice Chairmen – Mark Himmel
Treasure – Tif Rodriguez
3) Committees and Committee Leads
Contract Review – Mark Himmel
Chapter Support Grants – Bob Wagner
Education – Craig Allen
Expansion – Freddy Dunn
Fundraising – Tif Rodriguez
Marketing & Media – Mark Himmel
Membership – Dennis Serpa
Partnership – Darrel Wallace
Public Lands – Brad Pollman
Volunteer Hours – John Chepulis
Youth – Greg Schatz
Nomination – Jim Allen
Any BCH member can be on any of the above committees. They all would gladly take more members and if you want additional information regarding any of these committees, please feel free to call/email myself or the head of the committee.
I hope this information helps to bring you up to date on the BCHA and some convention activities, there will be more to follow. Always feel free to contact me with questions, concerns, suggestions and anything else.
Respectfully,
Idaho National Director
Pat Bogar
SACRAMENTO (BRAIN) — The group of trail and forest advocates settled its federal lawsuit filed in 2019 against the U.S. Forest Service, whom it said allowed Class 1 e-bikes on non-motorized trails in the Tahoe National Forest without conducting a public study.
The Order of Dismissal was signed by the Department of Justice on March 31, 2020. Since then, the Tahoe National Forest included about 32 miles of trails in question into an existing assessment study — the East Zone Connect Project — that the USFS approved for Class 1 e-bike use in December 2020.
The Back Country Horsemen of America, one of the plaintiffs, participated in the process.
“We were pleased to find that the Forest Service checked all the necessary boxes in its examination of its proposal to allow Class 1 e-bike use on otherwise non-motorized trails,” said Randy Rasmussen, director of public lands and recreation for the Back Country Horsemen of America. “We did not object to, nor litigate, the outcome of the East Zone Connect Project.”
According to the lawsuit, before opening non-motorized trails to e-bike use, the Tahoe National Forest should have had a public study that includes analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act to assess the impact of the decision.
Other plaintiffs included the Backcountry Horsemen of California, The Wilderness Society, the Gold Country Trails Council, and the Forest Issues Group.
“To be clear, on the e-bike topic, the BCHA has always been about process, meaning that the public needs to be involved in federal agency decisions regarding where, and under what circumstances, e-bikes are allowed on existing trails enjoyed by the public,” Rasmussen said.
At the prompting of BCHA and allies that include the American Horse Council, last month the Forest Service national office circulated a memo to all national forests and national grasslands titled “Recommended Best Practices for Managing Stock Use Sites at Developed Campgrounds.” A copy of that memo can be found here.
We encourage BCHA chapters and volunteers to review this memo and, importantly, to use it as a reason to schedule a meeting with personnel at your local national forest to assist you to achieve the following objectives:
- Ensure the memo was received by the local Forest Service office,
- Discuss with forest staff the magnitude of the problem locally and the memo’s relevancy and implications, and
- Come to agreement on what adjustments in the management of equestrian campsites within Forest Service jurisdiction might be implemented in order to communicate to the public the need to prioritize equestrian campsites for use by parties with stock.
Background
Last year, BCHA approached the Forest Service regarding what options exist to minimize the extent to which parties without stock were occupying designated equestrian campsites throughout the National Forest System. We pointed out that agency policy for developed campgrounds prohibits parties from “Bringing in or possessing a saddle, pack or draft animal except as authorized by posted instructions” (Code of Federal Regulations, Section 36, subsection 261.16(l)). That is, parties with stock are prohibited by law from occupying Forest Service campsites that are not designated for equestrian use.
Yet, there is no corresponding regulation that prevents parties without stock from occupying developed equestrian campsites. The problem of occupied horse camps escalated across the nation during the COVID pandemic, when many families and others chose close-to-home vacations in favor of long-distance travel. The Forest Service memo describes well the implications to stock users of this growing problem.
Horse Camp Incident Report Form
BCHA and its allies developed a Horse Camp Incident Report form for members to capture and record incidents where parties without stock are occupying Forest Service equestrian campsites. The form can be found here. An online version of the form can be downloaded to your smart phone; it can be accessed here.
The purpose of the form is to support BCHA should we need to make the case for new regulations to prevent parties without stock from occupying equestrian campsites. BCHA is pleased that the Forest Service issued the aforementioned memo to field staff; it represents a logical first step to apply education to help lessen the problem.
We don’t know that education alone will prove sufficient to solve the horse camping problem. By collecting your accounts of incidents in the field, we might better document the magnitude and geographic extent of the problem. Consequently, BCHA is relying on its members to provide data from the field of your observations, should we need to promote further solutions.
Special notes:
- Always be courteous to other campground users. It’s likely that any party without stock has occupied an equestrian campsite because regular campsites were already taken or reserved.
- Remember, it’s not illegal for others to camp in an equestrian campsite. Plus, some folks might not know the difference between an equestrian and regular campsites (seriously!) or why their occupancy of an equestrian campsite might force us to travel far distances in order to find a legal campsite—if not forced to return home, an outing ruined.
- If you end up speaking with such parties, use these talking points to educate them about the scarcity of legal campsites for equestrian use and what happens when parties without stock occupy equestrian campsites.
PRINT INCIDENT FORM // ONLINE INCIDENT FORM
Managing Horse Camp Sites_whitepaper_FINAL
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please advise BCH members who wish to submit a US Forest Service Trail Partner Funding grant application to ensure their proposal is of a SIZE and SCALE to be competitive with applications submitted by other national organizations.
A grant application submitted by a single chapter for work on one or a few trails is unlikely to be funded. I encourage BCH members to join with other chapters or states to submit grant applications that are BIG and result in substantial work being done to reduce the amount of deferred maintenance of Forest Service trails (applications of up to $20,000!).
Your proposal will receive extra points if the work includes trail maintenance within one or more USFS Trail Maintenance Priority Area. See map at:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/trails/priority-areas
The scoring for Trail Partner Funding grant applications weighs heavily on:
1. Miles of trail maintained,
2. Miles of trail deferred maintenance eliminated,
3. Number of volunteers engaged, and
4. Cash and in-kind matching funds.
The level of cash match is also scored in addition to in-kind match (volunteer labor, etc.). Even a few hundred or few thousand dollars of cash match will tip the scale toward higher grant application scoring. So avoid the minimum 1:1 match composed entirely of in-kind labor, stock days, etc. Throw in some cash to substantially increase your grant scoring/ranking by the grant review team.
And band together. Just as important, band together with hiking, biking and other trail organizations to submit a joint application–grant applications that benefit multiple trail user groups receive higher scoring! At a minimum, describe in the grant application how the work you are proposing will benefit hikers, backpackers, trail runners, climbers, hunters, anglers, bird watchers, etc. Submit state-wide projects or multi-state projects in order to increase the chances your projects will be funded (and try to squeeze in a Trail Maintenance Priority Area).
BCHA Chapter Grant – How to Apply – Starting in January of each year!
How and When to Apply for a Chapter Support Grant
1 – Grant requests can only be between $100 and $1,000 (maximum). If you are matching our grant with other grants or sources of money for a larger project, please state the other matching group(s) and the amount they are providing.
2 – Are you following one or more of our Mission Statements?
a – To perpetuate the common sense use and enjoyment of horses in America’s back country and wilderness
b – To work to ensure that public lands remain open to recreational stock use
c – To assist the various government and private agencies in their maintenance and management of said resource
d – To educate, encourage and solicit active participation in the wise use of the back country resource by horsemen and the general public commensurate with our heritage
Also, are you educating and encouraging youth in the proper use of America’s backcountry and any public lands, be it county, state or national?
3 – The application must be complete! Incomplete applications will not be considered. Dates for chapter support grant submissions are January 1 to March 15.
4 – If for some reason a grant recipient is unable to do the project, please contact the chairman at grants@BHCA.org to discuss your options.
Timeline
January 1 through March 15 – We accept applications.
March 16 through March 31 – Committee scores and decides grant recipients.
April 1 – Spreadsheet goes to BCHA’s treasurer for checks to be written.
During the national board meeting, grant recipients will be announced. Checks will be sent the week after the national board meeting.
A project report is mandatory and due by December 31 of the year the grant is received. The contact person listed on the grant application is responsible for submitting the report. Send the report with pictures (before and after) to grants@BCHA.org.
Any questions? Contact the Chairman of the Chapter Support Grants Committee at grants@BCHA.org.
BCHA continues to operate under a five-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) with the U.S. Forest Service 11/12/2021
Do you have a service project you would like to accomplish on a nearby national forest? BCHA continues to operate under a five-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) with the U.S. Forest Service related to trail maintenance and public education and outreach. We recommend you share a copy of the MOU with your local forest. Many BCH chapters operate under a similar forest-specific service agreement, which often can be expedited if both parties are made aware of the national MOU. BCHA’s current MOU with the U.S. Forest Service is active to August 31st 2021.
21-MU-11132424-362-SIGNED-BCHA-signed-MOU_FinalSigned